Is your coding work done from home? I have heard it was very difficult sm
Posted By: searching on 2007-08-31
In Reply to: I do both coding and MT work. I'd definitely say to go with coding/insurance billing - Jack-of-All Trades
to get coding work at home, you have to go to work for a company somewhere. Has this changed? I know coders are always needed, but we don't have any openings locally for at-home coding. TIA.
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I do both coding and MT work. I'd definitely say to go with coding/insurance billing
The way the medical transcription profession is going, you'll best be served by doing insurance billing with a coding certificate than doing transcription. There will always be a need for billers and coders. JMO.. and I make more money billing with the way our cpl are going down.
You are going to have a difficult time. At-Home
is not one of the better "schools." You can post your resume on all the free job boards as there are companies that will hire from resumes but don't post positions. You probably need to get a menitoring position. There are companies that will hire newbies, but there are some who aren't legit so you need to ask questions before jumping in with both feet.
If you read the job boards you will see the equipment varies per company, just as pay does. If you need to download a test you can just use hot keys for that. Some foot pedals are configured to only work with one particular program, so no since is buying something that you might not need. I'd start building a reference library first because you'll need that anywhere you go.
I think you can download a test at www.mttest.com so you can get an idea of what it is like to test. If you Google on-line transcription tests you might can find other sources. I would do this a few times, see where your strength and weaknesses are and work on those.
You would probably be better off trying to get an in-house position until you have some experience. Try your local hospital and clinics.
heard of the At Home Professions MT course
I was wondering if anyone has heard of or even graduated from At Home Professions MT learning course!, If so was it successful??
heard of at home profession ....
Hi Cindy,
Yes, I took their course and it worked for me. Takes lots of hard work from yourself to make it. I'm a successful medical transcriptionist!
If the test file has such difficult ESLs, you don't want to work there anyway! It would be
s
I always found the tests more difficult than actual work (sm)
I think they try you out on their most difficult to see how you do. It also may be the stress of taking a test too. I tested with anyone who would let me test, and I failed a lot of them, but just keep trying. Persistence does pay off. It sounds like you have a great start and you should probably stay where you are to get the experience. Yes, it will count. Best of luck to you!
Coding has much more of a future than MT right now. Coding can't be sent out to India and
it requires an active thought process to do it, so it's not likely to be replaced by software. Yet. I bet there's a lot of MT's right now that wish they would have chosen coding...
You might be able to work at home.
You might be able to work at home if you are successful in passing their course.
Look carefully at schools before you sign up. Andrews and M-Tec both have high graduation rates and their students get jobs easily. They are worth the money.
They are both approved by AHIMA and AAMT, provide personalized instruction with experienced CMT instructors, and have a proven track record. They provide more and that is why they cost more.
Don't try to save money by going with the cheapest school you can find. You'll end up spending twice as much in the long run. You'll spend for books and materials, for references, and in lost time on the job, and you may end up being unemployed for months looking for a job.
I went to CS and work at home, but...
I went to Career Step and had 2 job offers from national companies within a week of graduating. Both of these jobs were to work at home. While I had no trouble finding work, if I had to do it all over again I would have gone to Andrews or M-TEC. Getting feedback from an instructor as compared to just checking your own work would have been invaluable!
I work from home for pvt mds plus....sm
4 days a week I work for private mds from home, and at least 16-20 hours a week for a nat'l also from home.
new mt...need at home work
I am a new MT.....and only a few credits shy of my Associate Degree in Medical Office Specialist field. I am looking for a transcription job that I can do at home. I have 3 small children and would like to be at home with them. If anyone has any info on starting transcription at home, please feel free to post. Thanks so much!!!
work at home
Do not buy anything. Anyone that wants money for you to work is a SCAM! What are you trained in, MT??
Work at home?
You can get hired after completing a local college program, but it all depends on the college and how local employers view it. Most programs focus on entry-level skills and few employers have entry-level jobs and the time to train people who should have gotten that training in school.
It's very unlikely that you'll be able to even apply at a national service to work from home because they require at least 2 years experience in acute care dictation. They make exceptions for grads of certain schools, like Andrews and M-Tec, because those grads don't have entry-level skills--they look like they have 2 years experience already. They also know those grads have a good chance at making a success of the job.
Ask your instructors which employers will hire you. Ask the employers NOW if they'll hire you. Don't settle for vague promises. If they can't refer you to actual students who got jobs, then cut your losses now and find a better school.
You can find a local job typing for doctors offices, but you'll have to work at it. With your background, you might be able to break into it by getting a job as a medical secretary.
Work at home or in house
What is the difference in training for the two? Can a person be trained in one and then go into the other right from the start.
Job Prospects after Course - Work at home
One more question..
How difficult it is to get a job working at home, after finishing an online course?
The MT training companies state they have a good sucess rate of employment at home right after finishing the course.
When I checked a couple of the hiring companies listed on their site, they stated you need previous experience working in a hospital.
Thanks!
If you have a good MT education, work from home. Besides
There's not much help going on at hospitals and clinics these days. At least the national services have someone assigned to help you if you need help from home. I wish they had done that when I was just starting out years ago.
If you have already done the right thing and you have a good MT education, go for the work-at-home job. Good luck with your new career!
If you didn't get a good education, neither on site nor at-home jobs are going to make a difference. Just go get a good education and make things easier on yourself and your potenetial employers.
I work a split shift at home
I work 6 a.m. - 4 p.m. and take either two 1 hour breaks during that time or one 2 hour break, depending on what I need to get done during the day. Works out great.
Try to get a job in a hospital. Don't try to work at home for a few years of doing this full-tim
x
Great choice for work-at-home jobs
I'm a physical therapist and an MT as well, not bad for a part-time job, plus you have to stay at home; although you are not going to earn as much as you do as RN. Working indirectly with the patient is as exciting as working directly with them. Good Luck!!
If you're young and don't HAVE to work from home, then working in-house
s
You'll need to work 2 jobs at home to be able to live on MT. Or have a spouse + your income. Best
s
Unless you can work in-house somewhere, I feel the at-home MT who can make good money is a
s
They should not be difficult...
The report is laid out, as you know, in a SOAP format, which is Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan. Are you having difficulty understanding which section to transcribe within? If you have any questions, feel free to E-mail me. I will try to help you. mtmentor@gmail.com
Difficult dictation.....
I was hoping that someone could give me some advise for difficult doctors that dictate with a very strong acient!! I need help!! Any advise would be great! 
Thank you!
Difficult dictators
Ask for one week of dictation of nothing but this one dictator. I guarantee you after a full week of listening and getting used to the "cadence" of this particular person, you will begin to know what is being said. ESLs oftentimes have limited vocabulary in English and you will find them using the same phrasing throughout the PE, for example, which they reel off very quickly and then will slow down for pertinent findings. We have a few difficult dictators and have found the only way for someone to train is to do that one dictator for at least one week and no one else. Once that occurs, you will be requesting that dictator (believe it or not) and will spin through the transcription. I have seen it happen with at least 6 MTs already. I hope this helps.
As a newbie, it is very difficult to
I am a radiology transcriptionist, and I like it...but...I could not transcribe for 8 hours straight. I like this job working part time; however, working in the fitness industrie, it is very difficult for me to sit at the computer all day. It was difficult to find a job, so I decided I go back to school to start a nursing career. I know many MTs have trouble finding work, but nurses are always wanted. Don't you enjoy your job?
If you want to work from home make sure you choose the right school!!
Good luck to you :)
Y would it make it MORE DIFFICULT?
Having NO school experience is worse than having school experience????? I find that very hard to believe.
Difficult but possible. Most companies want
FT people so that may add a little difficulty on top of the fact that you are a newbie. It depends on what school you went to how easy it will be for you to find a position. If you want to one of the 2 best recognized schools, M-Tec or Andrews, your chances are pretty good. It you went to PCDI or At-Home Professions it will be extremely difficult, though not impossible. Post your resumes on all the various free MT job boards. I would also suggest looking locally for a clinic or hospital position. If you didn't come from one of the better schools you're going to need a lot of mentoring and working on-site is a good way to get that.
That s/b difficult but not impossible. nm
You didn't say what was difficult about it to be
able to help you.
coding
I don't know about coding programs, but I took coding in college and found it a lot harder than transcription.
I don't think M-TEC has a coding
program; however, their transcription program is excellent. I don't know very much about coding, but I chose MT because I did not want to deal with something so directly related to money since docs and hospitals get paid based on how something is coded. However, I think some might enjoy that. Personally, I like the feeling that I am doing something to help a patient without getting caught up in the money end of it. From all that I have read, it is easier to start out working from home in medical transcription than in coding.
Coding vs MT
If you check the salary surveys available on other websites -- sorry, I can't tell you what they are because the moderators delete my posts when I do that! -- you'll see that coding can pay more than transcription.
My thinking is that MTs tend to burn out faster than coders. Coding is less physically strenuous than MT. Coding jobs tend to allow for advancement into different types of work, which helps relieve any boredom that might occur. MT jobs tend to be of one type.
If you want to give MT a go, you certainly can. Right now, it's easier to find work from home in MT than in coding, at least for someone with no experience. If you do that, you can consider a few years working in MT to be a time spent gaining very useful knowledge for coding later on. The knowledge MTs have about reports, medical records, procedures, office visits, and the way medical care "works" is invaluable. MTs learn coding very quickly, much faster than someone without MT background, even people with other types of experience in health care.
the difficult part is trying to understand what the
doctor is saying because the accents are ridiculous and sometimes it sounds like they are slurring words.
Hopefully you won't be crushed. It might be difficult, but hang in there. nm
X
It is very difficult w/o formal training!
I know people that went to one of the top 3 schools and still have problems as a newbie getting work, without 2 years experience! I don't know about interships, especially without training. As far as the money, I am new and cannot tell you much about that. With a Master's degree, I would think that you would make more than any of us?! What do you plan on doing with your degree?
Coding vs Transcription
There is salary information available at the AAPC website, www.aapc.com. The link to the 2004 survey is http://www.aapc.com/recognition/salary_survey.html .
Coders tend to make a bit more and have more room for advancement into consulting, training, and compliance positions. The work requires somewhat more in terms of medical and technical knowledge, the ability to deal rapidly and effectively with constant change and uncertainty, the highest attention to detail, an absolute intolerance for error. Coding, like transcription, requires very high literacy and deductive skills--you have to enjoy reading constantly and solving frustrating puzzles.
Coding is not as amenable to working at home, although rapid progress is being made in this arena.
You can't go wrong with MT. Most of your training for that, and your on-the-job experience, will give you a huge head start in coding. Much of the background material is the same--coding just adds to it somewhat. If you choose your school right, you'll get an MT job right away, working at home, and you can then think about broadening your skills into coding. At that point, a few years from now, there will be more remote coding opportunities for you to move into.
Coding and Transcription
 Thank you so much for the information I have a little background in coding but it seems as though Medical Transcription is in more of a demand right now as far as a work at home job. The cost of tuition with either Andrews or Career Step is a bit expensive for me and I want to make sure that I make the right choice in terms of being able to find a wahj after certification.
billing and coding
Billing and Coding is totally different. As you know coding is putting terminology into numbers, nothing like putting a H & P on paper or an OP note into words. I coded for 2 years for family practice and it is not cut out to what people think it is.
Not many coding jobs
nm
She said she had both coding and MT training
She initially said she had both coding and MT training.
First, she said, she had coding and a CPC certification, but could not get a job, so she let the certification lapse. She apparently quit looking for a job.
Then, she said, she went through an MT training program and now can't get a job.
People get jobs every day with those exact qualifications. That's no guarantee that a particular person will get a job, but it's also no indication that NO person will get a job.
Medical Coding or Transcription
I will be applying for online training soon and have noticed that the price of tuition for medical coding and medical transcription are not too far apart. I always thought that there was more opportunity and a higher income for medical transcription. Can anyone with experience in coding tell me how the average salary is for coding? Thank you in advance for any answers on this.
Coding/Billing is TOTALLY different
from MT work. You are not trained or qualified to do MT work.
Coding is most certainly being outsourced offshore. Who
told you that coding isn't being sent out of the country?
Also, coding education/certification will not get SM
you a transcription job at all.
What? Coding most certainly can and IS sent out of the country! You're confusing
You're funny!
The only one I have heard of
is the one that Jay Vance is running. I cannot remember what it is called but maybe if you check over on the AAMT forums you can find a link to the information on it.
HTH
Never heard of them.
They may be fine, but that's a new one to me.
Never heard of it.....(sm)
Where did you hear about this program? Do they have a website?
have you heard anything?
Hey Angela,
I also took the tests and was told they were reviewing my assessments and would get back to me by the end of the next day. I still haven't heard anything. Have you?
That's what I heard the
whole time I was in school. I took online courses through my local community college. By the middle of my courses, I was so discouraged and thought I was going to have such a hard time finding a job and thought I was just wasting my time, but I am so glad that I stuck it out. I had a job before I even graduated and have never been turned down for a job since. Within the first 3 months of finishing, I was working for 3 different companies at the same time. Everybody says it is easier to get jobs going to those 2 schools, and maybe it is. My point, however, is it can be done without going to them. I think it has a lot to do with how you do on their tests as well.
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